Top 6 things that piss me off about #IranElection

Twitter has become the main medium to follow the Iranian election matter.
If you go on #IranElection there, you will see that thousands of people are showing their support in messages.

However, there are several aspects in the public's reaction that are pissing me off.

(Disclaimer: I have Iranian roots and many of my relatives live there, I just wish them well and I hope things will turn out for the better.)

1) Everyone's turned their avatars green

You're showing your support to the people there, that's very nice of you.
Except, very few of the Iranians who are actually protesting are on Twitter. They've probably never even heard of it.
2) Don't RT nicknames?

"don't RT with names from Iran! Delete this and put in 'from Iran' in place of the name! rumors of arrests!"

That one is briliant. How is the iranian government going to arrest people based on a nickname?
It's not like Twitter is going to give them the IPs of people who sent the messages.
There's no way you can trace a person from a nickname on Twitter. That's why they're nicknames.

Which brings me to my next point...
3) Who's tweeting anyway?

There aren't many Iranians using Twitter. The fact is, anyone can set their zone to Iran and claim that they have real news.

It is somewhat surprising that most of the sources of information speak fluent English and that they are all very familiar with retweeting and hashtags. These are things that only a small percentage of Twitter users do.

Several countries have an interest in leveraging the situation. It would be naive to think that they are not involved in Twitter, just like it would be naive to think that the Iranian government is not using this channel also.

The fact is that we do not know where the messages come from. Take them with a grain of salt before you repeat them.

4) This is the Cyberwar!!!

Maybe you're one of these people who live in the 1990's and you like using the term "cyber".
Good thing then that some people have written a "Cyberwar guide for beginners".
People seem to get this romantic idea that you're a hacker, helping people out.
I suspect that most people are sharing this link to look "cool".

5) Flip flopping

In less than a week, the public's reaction regarding Iran has completely shifted.

A month ago, the general consensus in Western countries was that Iran was a combination of the following cliches:
- a backwards, illiterate country
- a radical islamist state
- a negationist government
- a threat to Israel
- a terrorist supporter

It's a bit awkward to see how many people on Twitter are now praising the country as a strong and proud people fighting for their freedom.

6) It's become like real TV

People are joining "the movement" as if they were part of a game. They want to see what's happening there in real time. They want to be part of something exciting. More news, more gore pictures.

It's starting to look more and more like Spymaster or one of the silly Facebook applications.
A strange mixture between a morbid obsession and romantic ideals.

I hope I don't sound too bitter, I just hope people on #iranelection won't dilute the message in some personal side-stories.